Mixed Signals, Clear Plays: Where Real Estate Owners Should Build EV Charging in 2026

EV headlines look contradictory. On one side, automakers are tapping the brakes—GM booked a $1.6 billion charge tied to an EV pullback and capacity reset. On the other, U.S. EV sales just hit a quarterly record—11% of new cars in Q3 2025 (≈438,500 units), thanks partly to buyers racing the incentive deadline. The takeaway for corporate and commercial real estate (CRE): tighten your filters, but don’t stall shovel-ready sites that already pencil on dwell economics and power.

The contradiction, explained

Former Ford CEO Mark Fields put it bluntly in a CNBC interview last week: automakers “went full bore” on EV capacity without a realistic read on consumer hurdles—price, charging confidence, and model mix. That mismatch is now forcing production recalibration even as actual demand keeps growing in pockets (affordable trims, tax-credit-eligible models, and fleet). Expect a choppier supply narrative from OEMs while site-level demand for reliable charging at the right locations continues to firm up.

Meanwhile, the buyer side isn’t a mirage. Independent trackers show record quarterly sales that lifted EV share to ~11%, though some of that was pulled forward ahead of the September 30, 2025 incentive sunset—so a near-term dip is possible before growth resumes on broader model availability. For CRE, that means avoid macro whiplash: prioritize locations where utilization and retail lift are already observable.

Where the demand pockets are

Fleet depots (industrial). Parcel, service, and municipal fleets are electrifying to cut TCO and hit ESG targets. These sites need high-capacity distribution, smart load management, and reliable overnight power windows—very different than public retail charging. Interconnection planning and transformer lead times dominate the critical path.

Destination charging (workplace, multifamily, hotels, medical). Long-dwell users value Level 2 where the car sits anyway. For hotels and offices, charging is now a search filter and a leasing bullet—standardize L2 at 7–19 kW and integrate payments/roaming so guests and employees don’t need new apps at every property.

Transient/through-travel (highway retail, travel plazas). Here the job is speed and throughput: multi-port DCFC with clean sightlines to food, restrooms, and lighting. A 20–40 minute dwell can be captured as basket lift when pricing is clear and the walk is short.

Measure the pocket, don’t guess. Instrument the property and ask people. Use lot counters, POS timestamps, and Wi-Fi/presence analytics to track traffic flows and dwell during charging windows, then survey customers and tenants quarterly about charging access, price sensitivity, and amenity preferences. Tie their feedback to hard metrics (utilization, basket lift, satisfaction scores) to refine speed mix (L2 vs. DCFC), stall count, pricing, and amenity placement.

Dwell economics are real (and measurable)

Don’t just “sell kWh”—aggregate traffic and monetize time on site. A 2024 MIT study found EV chargers increased nearby business spending ~1.4% (2019) and ~0.8% (2021–mid-2023), with stronger gains when chargers sit within 100 meters of restaurants and attractions. That’s your thesis for co-locating DCFC with food/coffee and promoting offers during charging windows.

How to underwrite a 2025-proof site

Be choosy—then decisive. Use three filters: (1) traffic + dwell (anchored F&B, restrooms, visibility), (2) EV density trajectory (current registrations + pipeline housing/office), (3) power reality (utility capacity, trenching costs). If a parcel clears all three and you have a workable interconnect, proceed—don’t let OEM headlines derail a good micro-market bet.

Match speed to the stay. Hotels, offices, multifamily: default to L2 with overnight/shift-length charging. Highway retail and travel centers: DCFC in 4–8 port blocks, expandable to 12+. Mixed sites can run L2 for staff/long-dwell, DCFC for transients—priced accordingly.

Design for reliability (and contracts that enforce it). Bake in 97%+ uptime per port, parts staging, and max repair windows. Require open protocols (OCPP/OCPI) so you can switch networks without ripping hardware, and insist on on-unit price displays that match what appears in apps—now a regulated norm for public sites.

Use pricing as a lever, not a mystery. Publish kWh rate + session/idle fees in-app and on-unit; promote off-peak pricing to steer load. Clarity cuts support tickets and turns first-timers into repeat users.

Consider risk-off stall leases to third parties. If capex or utilization risk gives you pause, offer bays for rent to a CPO or energy retailer via a site-host/land-lease structure. You provide marked stalls, easements, signage rights, and utility access; the operator funds equipment, manages grants/interconnection, sets prices, and runs O&M. In return, you take base rent plus optional revenue share. This pushes hardware, technology, and demand risk onto a specialist while you still monetize parking, capture dwell-time retail lift, and keep optionality: write in buy-out / step-in / upgrade clauses, require OCPP-compliant hardware for future re-platforming, and set brand standards (lighting, ADA access, wayfinding) so the guest experience stays on-brand. For owners testing a market—or waiting on transformer upgrades—stall leases can be a bridge strategy that preserves upside without loading your balance sheet.

Measure the right KPIs. Beyond utilization, track: (a) basket lift during sessions (retail), (b) booking conversion where “EV charging” is filtered (hospitality), (c) activation success rate and support tickets per 100 sessions (operations), and (d) energy cost per delivered kWh vs. TOU windows.

Take away for owners and occupiers

Yes, the automaker narrative is messy—GM’s $1.6 billion reset and public commentary from ex-OEM chiefs make that clear. But property-level demand for the right charging in the right places is still expanding, and Q3’s record sales prove the driver base is growing—even if the curve wobbles as incentives change. In 2025, winners will advance power-ready, high-traffic sites, lock in reliability and open standards, and treat charging as an experience that converts waiting into staying—and staying into revenue.